Dependency Staff Attorney

About the role

Legal Services for Children is seeking a Dependency Staff Attorney with current California Bar Membership in good standing and 0-5 years of experience in legal practice. Experience in dependency (foster care), family law, or representing youth is preferred. Being fluent or conversational in Spanish is strongly preferred.

The Dependency Staff Attorney, part of the EDGE (Education, Dependency, Guardianship and Emancipation) Team, will handle a caseload of child clients at all stages of juvenile dependency proceedings under Welfare & Institutions Code § 300. These cases involve allegations of parental abuse or neglect, often including domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health issues. This position requires membership in the Bar Association of San Francisco Dependency Panel; applicants who are not yet members will be mentored by an LSC attorney to achieve membership. The attorney may also handle a small caseload in other EDGE practice areas.

Responsibilities

• Represent children in dependency court in San Francisco, with a possible small caseload in guardianship, education, or emancipation cases. Address ancillary issues such as education, immigration, and government assistance to protect clients’ interests.
• Participate in frequent contested and non-contested appearances, pre-court staffings, hearings, and trials with strict and fast-paced timelines.
• Engage in all aspects of trial practice, including lay and expert witness contact, legal research and writing, and subpoenaing relevant witnesses.
• Create a strong trial-level record and seek appellate relief when necessary by preparing writs and notices of appeal.
• Meet with and interview clients in the office, court, or other convenient locations.
• Visit clients in their home, placement, and school to assess their well-being, including travel outside San Francisco and occasionally to central and southern California.
• Advise clients of their rights and explain legal proceedings in a developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed way. Help remove barriers to reunification or permanency and empower clients to reach their goals.
• Communicate with interested parties such as relatives, opposing counsel, service providers, court-appointed special advocates, and social services personnel regarding placements, case status, and client rights.
• Work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary teams, including in-house social workers and senior attorney mentors.
• Communicate frequently with the Dependency Panel mentor or LSC Legal Director.
• Participate in regular meetings with the Dependency and EDGE Teams and contribute to program development and staff activities.
• Engage in ongoing, intensive trainings on law, trauma-informed lawyering, and courtroom skills to deepen understanding of dependency practice.
• Maintain electronic files and perform data entry of case information in the Juvenile Court Automated Tracking System (JCATS).
• Make public appearances or presentations to advance issues benefiting clients.
• Mentor law student interns.
• Represent LSC in local coalitions and collaboratives as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Current California Bar Membership in good standing with 0-5 years of experience in legal practice.
• Experience in dependency, family law, or representing youth preferred.
• Fluent or conversational in Spanish strongly preferred.
• Lived experience with foster care or guardianship preferred.
• Energy, optimism, and passion for serving children and youth.
• Diversity of personal and professional experience.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and prioritize workload in a fast-paced environment.
• Commitment to providing services with cultural humility and respecting differences in race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, ability, socioeconomic circumstance, immigration status, and record of arrest or conviction.

Pay

Salary range is $80,474–$97,357, non-negotiable and based on years of relevant experience as an attorney.

Benefits

• Fully paid health insurance for employees and majority paid for child dependents (medical, dental, and vision).
• Retirement contribution.
• Generous paid leave (vacation, sick, holiday, and sabbatical).
• Flexible spending account for qualified health expenditures.

This position operates under a hybrid model, blending field, home, and office work, and is based in San Francisco, requiring presence in the area with the ability to travel to the office and other Bay Area locations. The position is part of a bargaining unit represented by IFPTE Local 20.

About Legal Services for Children

Founded in 1975, Legal Services for Children (“LSC”) is one of the country’s first non-profit law firms dedicated to providing free legal representation and social work services to children. Our mission is to ensure that all children in the San Francisco Bay Area are raised in a safe environment with equal access to a meaningful education and other necessary services to thrive and grow. We believe youth deserve positive alternatives to unnecessary placement in foster care, juvenile justice facilities, and immigration detention.

LSC pioneered the interdisciplinary approach now considered a best practice in juvenile law, deploying attorney-social worker teams to assist Bay Area children who need legal intervention to stabilize or improve their lives. Our attorneys represent children in guardianship, dependency, school discipline, immigration, and other civil legal matters, while our social workers provide crisis intervention, case management, counseling, and psychosocial assessments. LSC also engages in policy and advocacy projects to advance children’s rights.

To promote social justice and best serve our clients, LSC is committed to maintaining a diverse staff and providing services with cultural humility. We foster a workplace where staff can flourish professionally and personally, and we strongly encourage candidates from traditionally underrepresented communities and historically oppressed groups, including People of Color and LGBTQ individuals, to apply. Bilingual/bicultural candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.